1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to extracting rubber from rubber-bearing plant material and, in particular, to an automatic and continuous rubber extracting device for extracting rubber from rubber-bearing plant material in dry conditions.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is known to use a rubber extracting device to extract rubber from rubber-bearing plant material in non-aqueous conditions. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,540,438 issued on Jun. 2, 2009 to Buranov and the full disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, discloses a process for extracting rubber which includes first drying rubber-bearing plant material and then mechanically grinding the rubber-bearing plant material with a gristmill or similar equipment to produce rubber threads and finely ground root tissue. Following the mechanical grinding, rubber threads are separated from finely ground plant root tissue by passing the ground plant material over a dry vibrating mesh screen and blowing away the finely ground plant root tissue to leave rubber threads. The rubber threads may be further purified by stirring the rubber threads in warm water and skimming off the rubber threads.
There is accordingly a need for an improved rubber extracting device to mechanically grind organic material and, in particular, rubber-bearing plant material to produce rubber threads and finely ground root tissue.